Croatian Institute of Public Administration International Conference 2015.
About the Conference
ABOUT THE CONFERENCEGeneral aim and topic of the Conference
Decentralization policies have been on the agenda in a number of countries for a long time. They include widening local autonomy as well as the scope of local affairs and responsibilities, territorial rescaling, strive for local democracy and accountability, building local capacities and professionalism, new local financial arrangements, building partnerships with regional and central institutions, and the like. Decentralisation is deeply connected with the change of power structure in national contexts. The results can be of win-win, win-lose, but also of lose-lose type. Generally, the beginning of economic crisis in 2008 made decentralisation policies precarious. The power game between political actors has become more dynamic, in some cases even brutal.
The conference would like to explore decentralization policies that have been recently undertaken, their realms, components, triggers, short- and long-term effects, and prerequisites of successful decentralisation.
Specific themes that will be covered during the conference:
Decentralization policies and processes – values, components, challenges, expectations, effects;
Territorial restructuring and reform of functions of local and regional authorities in multi-level governance settings;
Decentralisation as democratisation – legitimacy and efficiency;
Evaluation of current decentralisation reforms.
The conference will last from Thursday, May 7 to Sunday, May 10, 2015 and will be held in the CAAS premises in Dubrovnik. It will be organized in the form of plenary sessions and several topical panel sessions.
Tentative schedule of the Conference is the following:
Thursday, 7 May 2015 – afternoon session – opening of the Conference and the PhD panels;
Friday, 8 May 2015 – morning and afternoon sessions
Saturday, 9 May 2015 – morning and afternoon sessions
Sunday, 10 May 2015 – morning session and closing of the Conference.
Selection of presented papers will be submitted for publication in the international scientific journal Croatian and Comparative Public Administration, which is published by the Institute for Public Administration.
A summary of important deadlines
31 January 2015 – Submission of abstracts to the Organizing Committee
15 February 2015 – Notification of abstract acceptance
1 March 2015 – Circulation of Draft Conference Programme
31 March 2015 – Submission of draft papers
7-10 May 2015 – Conference in Dubrovnik
The Conference will be organized at the Centre for Advanced Academic Studies (CAAS) in Dubrovnik, Croatia (address: Don Frana Bulića 4, 20000 Dubrovnik, Croatia). CAAS is located in the very heart of Dubrovnik, less then five-minute walk from the Old City. Accommodation for participants is reserved at CAAS residence for the period 7-10 of May 2015 and organizers will cover accommodation costs for the invited paper givers and participants. Web site of CAAS: http://www.caas.unizg.hr/accomodation.html
All participants are kindly asked to take necessary steps for their travel arrangements soon after their participation is confirmed by the Organizing Committee.
The Dubrovnik Airport has good connections (direct or indirect) with all main European airports.